Museum of Jewish Diaspora Art in Ukraine, Kyiv

Project description

The Museum of Jewish Diaspora Art in Ukraine will be the first museum of its kind in the country and one of only a handful of Jewish art museums in the world — a living affirmation that the Jewish people are alive and will endure, despite the Holocaust, pogroms, and antisemitism, ancient and modern.

Located in the center of Europe, in a city renowned for its outstanding Jews and its Jewish history, culture and traditions — Kyiv, Odessa, or Lviv — the museum will present painting, graphics and sculpture by celebrated Jewish artists from around the world. Its exposition will stand as clear testimony to the tolerance, peacefulness, genius and talent of the Jewish people, wherever they live and work.

The museum’s work will also be devoted to charitable humanitarian aid for the residents of Ukraine who suffered during Russia’s invasion of their sovereign, peaceful country — turning cultural heritage into direct, tangible support for communities in need.

Programme Strands

• Permanent & Rotating Exhibitions — works of art are loaned to the museum free of charge for set periods (for example, six months), so the collection is continuously renewed with new works.
• Charitable Art Auctions — selected works are offered at internal auctions, with proceeds shared, in agreed proportions, between children’s medical institutions, the museum and the artists.
• Humanitarian Support for Ukraine — directing charitable aid to residents affected by the war, tying the museum’s cultural mission to concrete relief.
• Heritage Preservation & Research — safeguarding works currently held in artists’ homes or unsuitable storage, and documenting the legacy of the Jewish diaspora.
• Cultural Diplomacy & Dialogue — strengthening interethnic and interfaith cooperation and countering antisemitism through art and public diplomacy.

How We Work

The museum is organized through agreements between philanthropic and charitable organizations and individuals, the administrations of Ukrainian cities, the owners of the property where the museum will be located, the leaders of the local Jewish community, and the Assembly of the World Diasporas — which represents the interests of the artists, their heirs and legal successors.

In the Diaspora and in Israel, negotiations are already underway with living artists and with the descendants and successors of departed masters for the transfer of works to the future museum, building a collection worthy of an international audience.

Featured Artists

Among the artists who may take part are world-renowned masters of Ukrainian origin: Mikhail Turovsky, Samuil Kaplan, Zinoviy Tolkachev, Mikhail Weinstein, Akim Levich, Lyubov Rapoport, Yuliy Sheinis, Olga Markish-Rapay, Zoya Lerman, Iosif Weissblat, Ilya Tolkachev, Boris Rapoport, Vilen Barsky, Isaac Tartakovsky, Matvey Weisberg, and others — the list remains open.

Their works are held in museum and private collections across America, Europe and Israel, and have been shown in New York (including UN headquarters), Philadelphia, Chicago, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Paris, Madrid, London, Geneva, Brussels, Venice, Kyiv, Bordeaux and Lille.

How to Support

Support helps finance and organize the museum, fund humanitarian aid for Ukraine, and preserve Jewish artistic heritage for future generations. Partners, philanthropists and community leaders are invited to participate in the museum’s creation.